No one has been prosecuted, or EVER will, because 'private' banking executives of the mega 5 banks that control the whole financial sector are INTERCHANGEABLE with the governmnet. Does not matter what party it is...
AKA: OLIGARCHY

It's so convenient to moralize and personalize such issues rather than to look at systemic issues (like falling wages for the middle class or the rise of the usurious lending practices). If we want to moralize anything, why not moralize the practice of the banks and CEOs and execs of those banks, who walked away with literally over a trillion of our money. Not one of them has been prosecuted, and they keep on getting assistance from the government (even as we are all left with their blight in the form of foreclosed properties). Shame on them!

I grew up in the 80's. I paid off my debt (except my student loans) before we bought a home. We also had nearly 20% down. We bought a modest home which we could afford even if one of us wasn't working. The banks and our realtor even questioned why we weren't buying what we could "afford." We each contribute 10% of our income to our retirement accounts. We have six months emergency fund. So it can be done and not all gen x'ers just spend.

The comment about "underwater" homeowners growing up in the 80's is interesting. Those who were in school in the 80's would of course be buying homes in the early 2000's when prices were rising much faster than they ever did before. Most young buyers were forced to borrow 90-95% of their home's price and couples had to work two jobs to pay the mortgage. This was perfectly acceptable. Then bang! Without warning in 2008 they found themselves in a hole because the house value was crashing while they still had to pay the bills.

This was no fault of the homeowners whatsoever because the banks and mortgage companies harped over and over how you can take a ARP mortgage and get out of it before the price resets. The banks kept no skin in the game and when they were about to go under, we bailed them out.

Yes it's a sad state of affairs. People have to learn to live within their means. Unfortunatly they think that plastic card in their wallet or purse is their means. They forget that the bill will come at the end of the month,forget or don't care. In the end, no one is to blame but yourself.Own up to it and quit your crying.

I'd argue there's a generational aspect too. We younger folks did not live through the Great Depression nor either world war. Frugality was tossed for good in the free-wheeling '80s, when, I'll note, most under water home "owners" grew up. Growing up in a few decades of success and excess has certainly changed the national psyche; indeed, turning away from the generational question, there is plenty of evidence in our politics: Perot was laughed at, Gore's lockbox was laughed at, and Bush/Greenspan encouraged Americans to 'keep shopping' and borrowing when they should've been calling for national sacrifice.

There is a lot of blame to go around but I feel little sympathy for home "owners" who agreed to mortgages well beyond their means in the expectation that home values would never again fall.

nicksmom--I was using those figures as an example. It was just to prove a point that people need to live within their means. I understand what you mean by a 6 months buffer, but I personally think it would take much longer to figure things out if something were to happen. So for my personal peace of mind I prefer to have more. I do also have investments in which I contribute to on a regular basis.

The "average person" is really no different then government, or society as a whole. EVERYTHING now is built on leveraged debt. It's been a philosophy that has been indoctrinated into the public post WWII when the credit, and credit card boom all started.

I hope people seriously do not believe this nonsense that the economy is in "recovery". My God; it's all be sustained by debt spending. It's the same as what the average person does if they don't have income or savings to meet their obligations..You simply get by via taking on more debt. Something that does actually work, until of course, your credit worthiness, and interest obligations implode, and collapse the entire house of cards.
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We live in a debt economy. It's why interest rates are at 0%, and will remain that way FOREVER (the FOMC has recently extended it to 2014, and they extend it further at every meeting, to prop up the markets further). You have no incentive to save $$$ when interest rates are at 0, and inflation is starting to pick up more and more steam. Your $$$ saved literally looses value over night. If your going to save it, at least turn the $$'s to something with actual intrinsic value, like gold, or silver. Back your savings yourself, since the fiat based paper no longer has ANY backing to it. At least then you can retain some value in your savings.

I started 3 separate IRAs decades ago, and between the dot-com bust, the 9-11 market plunge, and the auto/bank economy tank, they have grown very little. I invest in my current employer's 401K plan, but the economy hit the mutual funds they use as well. I lost 15% of the value in one quarter - not very encouraging.

If I'm "lucky", the politicians will allow me to collect enough Social Security to supplement my meager retirement savings once I'm too old to maintain employment with a meaningful paycheck.

How in the world are you going to get anywhere in regular savings accounts with today's interest rates. Only the very well to do have the means to invest with any kind of real return. With some many out of work, how in the world can they build a nest egg?

On the housing subject, the meltdown wiped out property values and left millions underwater. At the same time certain billionaires who invested in CDOs made out of our mortgages made millions. This money has to come back somehow.

NV does that mean you will take your name off of the RECALL PETITION ? Walker is making it a paradise,
again your right on that one , that's what it was before Doyle and his cronies made the mess.

Thanks to my union, a good pension, and a good job, we are doing just fine living in paradise! Thank you Wisconsin!

I only keep a percentage of my savings in the bank. Invest some, bury some,.... I wouldnt have a prob if i lost my job. Having only one source of income is pretty dumb.. one should always have backup. Like having only one car... stupid.

Wow nicksmom we agree on something! July 24, 2007 I yelled, "I'M DEBT FREE." (except for a modest mortgage) Here's the link for Dave Ramsey internet streams: http://streamingradioguide.com/radio-sho...

Debt freedom really is life changing.

nothing thanks to walker....ok maybe some...

nscr17: You honestly think someone making a modest $4k / month could afford what you have listed off let alone get financing for it? I get your point but your numbers are ridiculous which makes me question just what the 1 year of savings your brag about is. That said, I've always maintained that Americans, politicians included could use Dave Ramsey's 12 week course, which by the way says 12 months in savings is foolish - anything beyond 6 months should be invested in the market for growth assuming you are debt free.

I had savings, lost my job for 7 months last year. At that same time I had to start paying $300. a month in medical insurance, and still pay. I am now back to work FT with somewhat less savings but NO DEBIT (yay me).

I am an American and as my politicians have taught me, I have 3 minutes of savings and 30 years of debt. God bless America.

Financial security is very important. Most people CHOOSE to live paycheck to paycheck, others are more frugal, but there are a lot of things in todays society that people think are necessities and they are not! If people thought more about budgeting themselves more tightly, they could save a lot more. I understand that some people are just not in the position to save and I understand that, but when you are making (for example-2 person income) $4000 per month and choose to have bills totaling $3950 per month because you need to have a $250,000 house, 2 new cars, a boat, an RV, a smart phone, high speed internet, cable with all of the movie channels--I think you get where I am going here--you need to really look at your habits and your budget. We have enough for about 1 year in savings and growing.

Who is us, and what are we not? I can survive a lot more than six months on my savings.
of course, I live under the train bridge next to the river.